The U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Sunday, July 22, 2012 a ground beef recall affecting nearly 30,000 pounds of the said product due to the possibility of being contaminated with Salmonella.

Cargill Meat Solutions logoImage Credit: Cargill.com

According to the press release by FSIS posted on their official website that day, Cargill Meat Solutions of Wyalusing, Pennsylvania is voluntarily recalling around 29,339 pounds of fresh ground beef products, which were sold in wholesale and for further processing.

As noted in the report, the recalled products, which were produced on May 25, 2012, involve 14 pound chub packages of “Grnd Beef Fine 85/15“, packed 3 chubs to approximate 42-pound cases, and bear the establishment number “EST. 9400” inside the USDA mark of inspection.

FSIS noted that these products were shipped to distribution centers in Connecticut, Maine, and New York for further distribution, and were repackaged into consumer-size packages and sold under different retail brand names. They are no longer available for retail sale since the use-by date has already passed.

“Food borne illnesses are unfortunate and we are sorry for anyone who became sick from eating ground beef we may have produced,” Cargill Beef president John Keating was quoted at Cargill.com, with the company along with FSIS are now worried that some of them may still be frozen in consumers’ freezers.

“Ensuring our beef products are safe is our highest priority and an investigation is underway to determine the source of Salmonella in the animals we purchased for harvest and any actions necessary to prevent this from recurring.” Keating added.

FSIS said that the problem was detected while doing an investigation of a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis involving 33 case-patients from 7 US states, and was able to relate sickness in five case-patients to the ground beef products produced at Cargill Meat Solutions.

The meat company emphasized that they are now working hand-in-hand with FSIS on the investigation. For more information about this latest ground beef recall, consumers are being invited to contact Cargill‘s toll-free hotline at 1-888-812-164 or visit their official website at Cargill.com.